This invention relates generally to ovens useful for cooking or heating food products and, more particularly, to ovens such as may be used to more evenly bake or roast food products.
In the commercial foodservice industry, it is common to employ baking/ roasting ovens that have a chamber or oven cavity sized sufficiently large to receive multiple layers of a food product to be cooked, in a single load. For example, typical or standard ovens may have provision for up to 8 cake or food trays each measuring 18 by 26 inches. Heating of the food product in such a cooking process is typically accomplished via heat supplied via a natural gas or oil burner or one or more electric heating elements.
Many convection ovens are equipped with fans capable of moving heated air throughout the cooking chamber at various velocities. Normally, such ovens are designed to provide a rapid distribution of heated air over food products which have been placed on pans stacked one above the other. Unfortunately, the distribution of heated air in such ovens is not always as uniform as may be desired. As a result, food products arranged in the cooking cavity and being cooked, e.g., baked, in such an oven may cook at uneven speeds. As a result, particular food products of a single batch can be cooked in an undesirable fashion, such as to various degrees of doneness and coloring, for example.
In an effort to improve such cooking results, various oven designs and methods have been proposed or developed. These oven designs and methods include rotating the food product while in the oven cooking cavity and the use of reversing blowers to change the airflow pattern in or through the oven cooking cavity. While such oven designs and methods may provide or result in certain improvements in cooking operation and results, they are also typically subject to certain or various shortcomings or limitations. For example, oven units that rotate the food product generally require more room to permit rack rotation. Further, the inclusion of a rack rotation mechanism and associated power drive can undesirably increase unit costs as well as increase maintenance costs such as due to the number and magnitude of moving parts included therewith.
One approach directed to solving or reducing at least some of these problems or concerns is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,604, issued Oct. 25, 1988. This patent discloses a baking oven which includes a baking chamber and has air channels extending at both sides of the baking chamber as well as over the height of the baking chamber from top to bottom. The air channels are separated from the baking chamber by partition walls having provided therein air flow openings formed by horizontal slots. As disclosed, heated air is blown in alternating directions into the baking chamber by means of a blower such as by way of reversing the sense of rotation of the blower.
Unfortunately, the inclusion and reliance on reversible blowers has associated with it a number of complications or shortcomings. For example, reversible blowers require the inclusion of an appropriate brake mechanism to permit the direction of blowing to be reversed. Further, the subjection of a blower to repeated or ongoing stoppages and reversals can be undesirably hard on a blower motor and can lead to an increased frequency of breakdowns, needed repairs or maintenance downtime.
As a result, there is a continuing need and demand for improved oven assemblies and associated or related methods of operation for the cooking of food products such as to produce or result in even heat energy distribution within the cooking chamber cavity.
A general object of the invention is to provide improved oven assemblies and associated or related methods of operation for the cooking of food products.
Another general object of the invention is to provide such oven assemblies and associated or related methods of operation for the cooking of food products such as to produce or result in even heat energy distribution within the cooking chamber cavity.
A more specific objective of the invention is to overcome one or more of the problems described above.
The general object of the invention can be attained, at least in part, through a specific oven assembly for the cooking of food products. An oven assembly, in accordance with one preferred embodiment of the invention, includes a cooking chamber. The cooking chamber is defined at least in part by a first pair of oppositely disposed first and second wall structures. Each of the first and second wall structures includes a plurality of spaced apart openings for the passage of air therethrough. The oven assembly also includes a rotating valve. The rotating valve is in both heated air receiving communication and return air communication with a heat source. At a selected point in time, the rotating valve is in heated air distributing communication with the first wall structure and in return air communication with the second wall structure of the first pair of oppositely disposed first and second wall structures, such that heated air is passed through the plurality of spaced apart openings in the first wall structure into the cooking chamber and return air from the cooking chamber is passed through the plurality of spaced apart openings in the oppositely disposed second wall structure and to the rotating valve for return to the heat source. The rotating valve is capable of rotation to be in heated air distributing communication with the second wall structure and in return air communication with the first wall structure.
The prior art has generally failed to provide large scale oven assemblies and associated or related methods of operation for the cooking of food products which produce or result in even heat energy distribution within the cooking chamber cavity in an as effective a manner as desired. Such shortcomings are particularly significant and noticeable in applications such as in the commercial foodservice industry such as commercial bakeries and the like, for example.
The invention further comprehends a commercial baking oven assembly for the baking of food products, such as with a more even heat distribution. In accordance with one preferred embodiment of the invention, such an oven assembly includes a baking chamber defined at least in part by a first pair of oppositely disposed first and second wall structures, each of the first and second wall structures including a plurality of spaced apart openings for the passage of air therethrough. The oven assembly also includes a rotating valve. The rotating valve is in both heated air receiving communication and return air communication with a burner assembly. At a selected point in time, the rotating valve is in heated air distributing communication with the first wall structure and in return air communication with the second wall structure of the first pair of oppositely disposed wall structures such that heated air is passed through the plurality of openings in the first wall structure into the baking chamber and return air from the baking chamber is passed through the plurality of openings in the oppositely disposed second wall structure and to the rotating valve for return to the burner assembly. The rotating valve is capable of rotation to be in heated air distributing communication with the second wall structure and in return air communication with the first wall structure of the first pair of oppositely disposed wall structures at a subsequent selected point in time.
The invention still further comprehends a method of operating an oven for the cooking of food products with even heat energy distribution. In such method, the oven includes a cooking chamber defined at least in part by a first pair of oppositely disposed first and second wall structures. In such oven, each of the first and second wall structures includes a plurality of spaced apart openings for the passage of air therethrough. The oven also includes a rotating valve in both heated air receiving communication and return air communication with a heat source. In accordance with one preferred embodiment of the invention, the method involves passing heated air from the heat source through the rotating valve and through the spaced apart openings in the first wall structure into the cooking chamber. In such method, return air from the cooking chamber is passed through the spaced apart openings in the second wall structure and the rotating valve to the heat source. The method further involves rotating the rotating valve to pass heated air from the heat source through the rotating valve and through the spaced apart openings in the second wall structure into the cooking chamber and return air from the cooking chamber through the spaced apart openings in the first wall structure.
The invention yet still further comprehends a method of operating a baking oven for the baking of food products with even heat energy distribution. In such method, the baking oven includes a baking chamber defined at least in part by a first pair of oppositely disposed first and second wall structures. Each of the first and second wall structures of the baking oven includes a plurality of spaced apart openings for the passage of air therethrough. The baking oven also includes a rotating valve in both heated air receiving communication and return air communication with a burner assembly. The rotating valve has a first state in which the rotating valve is in heated air distributing communication with the spaced apart openings of the first wall structure and in return air communication with the spaced apart openings of the second wall structure. The rotating valve also has a second state in which the rotating valve is in heated air distributing communication with the spaced apart openings of the second wall structure and in return air communication with the spaced apart openings of the first wall structure. In accordance with one preferred embodiment of the invention, the method involves rotating the rotating valve to sequentially alternate the rotating valve between the first and second states.
Other objects and advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the appended claims and drawings.